Saying Goodbye
by GlitteringAngel
Summary: One-shot. How do you bring yourself to break another's heart and say goodbye?


In a hotel bridal suite, a young woman sat at an intricately carved vanity unit, in a stunning ivory-coloured bridal gown. Her chocolate brown hair was fixed up off her face, a few loose curls hanging down to frame her features, and, to finish it off, she wore a stunning silver circlet. On the fourth finger of her left hand, a white gold band shone in the midday sun which streamed through the open window. None who saw her would mistake her for anything but a woman waiting to be wed.

Before her lay an elegant piece of writing paper and in her right hand she held a pen. The page was blank, untouched by the pen's ink, and lay in wait of her musings as she was lost to her thoughts.

The woman gazed upon her reflection in the mirror of the unit at which she sat. The eyes that gazed back upon her were her own; beautiful green-blue eyes, their colour as changeable as that of the world's vast oceans. Her heart, however, longed to gaze upon the eyes that had enchanted her so many years ago; dazzling eyes of icy blue, which burned like fire when they looked upon her.

She closed her eyes and held her lower lip between her teeth as she considered what she had to do. On this, her wedding day, the happiest day of her life, she had to say goodbye to a man whose heart she had stolen away.

"_I can't do this anymore!" she cried out as she paced the decorative paving stones of the garden they had been walking through. The beautiful gown that she wore dragged slightly on the ground, making _swish_ing noises as she turned this way and that._

_Observing her actions from a short distance away stood an imposing male figure, with dazzling, mismatched eyes, wild blond hair and the palest skin she had ever seen. He was much taller than she, the untamed nature of his hair only adding to the fact, and the way he held himself screamed of his regal standing._

"_You cannot do what anymore, Precious?" he drawled, trying hard to maintain his cool appearance. "Please, be more precise."_

"_This!" she almost screamed in exasperation, indicating the two of them. "Us!"_

"_And whyever not?"_

"_Because I'm engaged to be married to someone else, why do you think?" she shot back at him, irritated by how unaffected he seemed by the prospect of her being joined to another for eternity._

"_I do not see why that should put an end to what we share, my dear."_

_She looked at him, her face betraying the full extent of her astonishment at his words._

"_You're unbelievable!"_

"_Why thank you," he grinned, cockily._

"_It wasn't a compliment!" she hissed and squared up to him, though he was at least a head taller than her. Her hands positioned themselves solidly on her hips, emphasising her exasperation._

"_That depends how one takes it," he purred, his eyes burning with lust as he reached up a gloved finger to caress her cheek._

"_You know, this is why we would never work," she insisted, her voice now calmer, though she had to fight not to let him see how his touch affected her._

"_And why is that, my dear?" he questioned, leaning down to trail soft kisses along the line of her jaw and towards her supple lips._

"_Because," she licked her lips unconsciously, inwardly cursing the way her breath hitched as she spoke, "we see the world in completely different terms."_

"_That is not entirely true," he stated coolly, his lips hovering temptingly over hers._

"_And you never, _ever_, play fairly," she added, in barely more than a whisper, her body tingling all over._

"_A matter of opinion, Precious," he murmured, sending further pleasurable sensations along her spine with his proximity. "What exactly _is_ your basis for comparison?"_

_He pulled away ever so slightly and his eyes fixed on hers for a moment before he stole the kiss he so longed to take._

_He would not let her escape._

_She was at his mercy._

_And there was nothing she could do about it._

_Her body betrayed her without hesitation and she found herself kissing him back with something akin to desperation. He was gentle and demanding at the same time, she was his slave and his mistress intertwined. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her fingers sliding into the wild wisps of his hair as she held him close. He, in turn, engulfed her in his embrace, his arms tight around her slim waist, their bodies fitting together perfectly._

_It was everything she expected from him, it was loving and possessing, frantic and yet elegant. He made her feel like no other ever had and she doubted ever would._

_But it was all so wrong._

_She was engaged to be married. To someone who wasn't him._

The tears that filled her eyes escaped down her perfectly made-up cheeks as she closed her eyes, leaving damp trails wherever they ran. It was time for her to stop dreaming. It was time for her to grow up. A soft _splat_ echoed in her ears as a droplet came into contact with the parchment before her and she looked down to see the stain that it left.

She took a deep breath and moved as though to start writing on the paper she had laid out at her fingertips, but she found herself unable to find the right words to express exactly what she needed to say. She could not find the words to willingly and consciously break another's heart in aid of saving her own tormented soul.

He had offered her everything he was capable of.

He had turned his world upside down just to see her smile.

And here she was, about to compose the words that would smash his heart into a thousand pieces, just as crystal shatters when it hits a stone floor.

She tried to block the image of his handsome features from her mind's eye; those perfectly sculpted cheekbones, set off by the rebellious wisps of his hair and elegantly arched brows. She tried to forget how his immaculate skin felt like silk beneath her fingers as she committed the subtleties of his lean form to her memory. She tried to force herself to believe that he wasn't so completely and utterly...perfect.

She had found her dream; her fairytale.

She had found her match; her soul mate.

Waiting for her was a man who would do anything he could to make her happy. Has was generous and loving, affectionate and caring. He would exhaust himself just to please her, with no thought for himself. He was everything she could have ever hoped for in a partner and when she was with him she knew she was loved and adored more than anyone could ever hope to be.

She carefully wiped away the fresh tears that escaped down her cheeks and closed her eyes again as she made a silent wish.

A gentle hand on her shoulder brought her back into the room. Behind her stood a man, dressed in the most elegant regalia of his title and rank, his wild hair framing his beautifully chiselled features. Their eyes met in the mirror before them, hers as changeable as the oceans, his icy blue and filled with fire. He had come to her when she called and she knew what she had to do. She had to end it. She had to break his heart.

In a hotel bridal suite, laid out on the surface of an intricately crafted vanity unit, there was a delicate piece of writing paper. Atop the paper there lay a pen and beside the pen there lay a ring. Beneath the ring were two simple words, smudged and surrounded by the evidence of recently shed tears.

'I'm sorry'

* * *

><p>AN: So, this was just a quick little one-shot that sort of snook up on me, at least the idea did. I was trying to be a little bit mysterious and get you wondering whose heart our protagonist was going to break, but I'm not 100% sure how successful I have been. The ending drove me a little bit mad and I'm still not perfectly happy with it, but c'est la vie.

Let me know what you thought. I really appreciate constructive criticism.

GlitteringAngel x


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